by Ella Miles
The second he closes the door, I run to the drawers looking for anything I can use as a weapon to kill him. The drawers have a couple of condoms, a notepad, and a pen—nothing I could use to kill him. I throw the closet door open, but all I find are clothes. I run to the bathroom and pull open every drawer—toothpaste, a comb, floss, nothing useful.
“Fuck.” I slam the drawer shut, my eyes catching in the mirror.
That’s when I take the time to finally look at myself. I’m shocked by what I see. My shiny dark hair with a tiara, cat eye makeup, red lips, and my cleavage spilling over the top of the dress. I look like a teenager about to go to prom, not a sexy woman in control of her own body.
But that’s what he wants to make me feel like. He owns me, and I’m a scared little girl instead of the warrior badass I want to be.
I hear the door open, and I tear my gaze from the mirror as Paxton enters. “Admiring my work? I did a good job, didn’t I?”
I don’t answer.
He walks over to me and hooks his arm through mine. “Come on, it’s time to get married.”
13
Ri
I don’t know where I was expecting to get married, but it wasn’t this. Paxton leads me out of the cabin, down a trail to the water, and onto a small dock where a man with a bible waits at the end. His men surround the edges of the water, but only two walk onto the dock with us.
One of the men holds up a phone, and it’s then that I realize he’s recording this. I don’t know what they expect is going to happen when they show this video to my father. I don’t think he’ll be too happy to see I’m tied up, but then again, he doesn’t actually care about me. He would just see it as a big f-u to him that Paxton would dare to tie up and marry his daughter without his permission.
The officiant starts talking, while Paxton continues to hold onto my arm like this is a real wedding and not forced at all.
“Repeat after me,” the officiant says, and then I have to listen to Paxton declare his devotion to me like he’s been waiting his entire life for me. I guess in some ways he has been looking for a meal ticket like me his whole life.
Paxton stops talking and looks at me expectantly. I wasn’t listening, so I don’t know what words to say.
“Say, ‘I, Rialta Corsi, take Paxton Cook as my husband,’” Paxton says through gritted teeth, already losing patience with me.
“No.”
“You don’t get to say no. This isn’t your choice. Say the words!”
My eyes flutter to the officiant, who doesn’t seem fazed at all. I give him a smug smile. He’s dressed in a simple suit. I’m not sure if he is a man of the church or just someone who works for Paxton who got ordained online. Either way, he doesn’t seem surprised by my noncompliance.
Paxton grabs my throat and squeezes, immediately cutting off my supply of oxygen. My eyes bulge, but I force myself to remain calm, not to react. He won’t kill me. He needs me alive in order to marry me and take whatever power he thinks my father will provide.
So despite the strong urge in my body to fight for air, I remain still. It’s painful, not just in my throat, but in my lungs, too, as the remainder of my oxygen slips from my body.
Finally, Paxton releases my throat, and I gulp down large mouthfuls of air as I bend over. Paxton’s satisfied smirk beams down at me.
“Let’s try this again. I, Rialta, take Paxton as my husband. I shortened it to make it easier for you to remember.”
I stand up tall. “I, Rialta, am going to kill you. That’s a promise.”
Paxton’s eyes darken with fury, and then they snap to one of his men standing on the pier.
I feel the crack of a whip before I see it. It slices through my skin, and I can’t help the cry that escapes my lips. I almost stumble over from the impact. My arms still being tied behind my back doesn’t make staying on my feet any easier; neither do the heels I’m balancing precariously in.
Paxton nods, and the whip bursts against my skin once again. I’m ready for the impact this time, but the burning sting is worse now that my skin is so sensitive. I have no idea if the whip broke my skin. Are there just welts, or am I bleeding?
“I’m sure my father is going to find this wedding valid after he sees you whipping me into submission.” My eyes throw daggers at the man still recording us.
“Your father will see what we want him to see.”
He’s going to alter the video to make it look like I’m a willing participant. If my father sees that, he’ll kill me himself for disobeying him and marrying without his permission.
The whip comes down on me again, this time missing my back and striking my hands. I crumble to my knees as the pain hits my palms and shoots through my body. I scream, not out of pain but out of frustration for my life.
How did I end up here? Even if I escape with my life, my body not violated, and single, it doesn’t change anything. I’m still running. I’ll still end up married to a man I hate—a man who only sees me as property.
“Are you ready to cooperate now?” Paxton asks, assuming my posture means I’m broken and defeated, not furious and more willing to fight than I have been before.
I push myself back onto my feet as I let my strength rise in my chest. I smile like he’s made me happier than I ever thought possible, and then I snap. I run full speed at Paxton, and my head rams into his stomach. I knock him off the edge of the dock and into the water.
The men chuckle at first until Paxton’s head pops up out of the water. His nostrils flare as he snorts water out of his nose. The men fall silent instantly, seeing the rage on their boss’ face.
One of his men runs down the dock to offer his hand to help him out of the water, but Paxton brushes it away before pulling himself up the side of the dock.
I bob my head suddenly toward him to headbutt him again, but the man who had offered to help Paxton up pulls me back. Paxton removes his jacket and then shakes like a wet dog.
“Should I get you a towel?” the man gripping my arm asks.
“No,” Paxton growls. He walks over to the man holding the whip and takes it from him. “Hold her.”
Both men move to my sides, gripping my biceps and forcing me into a kneeling position.
Paxton hits me wildly over and over, his strokes hitting all over my back and neck. Tears sting my eyes, as I realize these whips are causing my skin to break open. I clench my teeth together to prevent a whimper of pain from escaping.
I hear Paxton panting behind me as he exerts all his energy striking me.
“Sir?”
The voice gets Paxton to stop. I’m still hunched over as tears and mascara stream down my face. Paxton may have done a good job with my makeup, but he didn’t ensure my mascara was waterproof. I sniffle back snot and tears as I’m pulled to my feet, hoping to hide some of the pain that has marred my face.
“You can whip me to within an inch of my life and I still won’t say the words to marry you.”
“That’s why we’ve decided to take a different route,” Paxton says confidently.
That’s when I see who his men are leading down the dock—Caius Monroe. His hands are tied behind his back like mine, and two men stand on either side of him. Other than a shiner around his eye and a gash that has already been stitched up on his head, he looks unharmed.
The men stop near us at the end of the dock. Paxton immediately pulls out his gun and aims it at Caius, not even looking him in the face.
“Now, this is how it’s going to work. You are going to repeat the words the officiant says, or I’ll kill him. Understand?”
I don’t look at Caius, and I don’t react. “What makes you think I care about this man?”
“You traded your life to save his.”
“If you didn’t notice, I was a captive with them. They were the ones who tied my arms together and drugged me. I already knew how dangerous they were; I was hoping I had a better chance at escaping you than them. That’s why I traded my life.”
“I don’
t believe you.”
I hold my breath, trying to figure out what to do. I don’t want to marry Paxton, but does it really matter if I say the words? If my father isn’t happy with the marriage, he’ll get it annulled. And by saying the words, I could save Caius’s life.
But I really hate losing. I hate being manipulated. And once I’m married, Paxton will complete his threat and rape me. There will be no one to save me then.
Paxton hits Caius over the head with the butt of his gun.
I wince.
It’s enough for Paxton to beam with confidence in his plan. I do care about Caius. He hands his gun off to one of his men before pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbing at my face.
“You ruined my masterpiece. Just one of the many things you’ll be punished for later.” When he’s finished wiping the ruined makeup from my face, he runs his hand through his own hair, slicking it back. Then he turns me so my back is away from the camera. He holds me around the waist, so close that with the right camera angle, I’m sure you can’t tell that my arms are tied behind my back or that my back is coated in blood.
“You may start again, Richard,” Paxton says.
The officiant starts speaking again like the last twenty minutes haven’t even occurred. “Please repeat after me: ‘I, Rialta Corsi, take Paxton Cook as my husband.’”
I lick my lips, considering my options before I say the words. But I don’t know how to save myself from this fate. I can save Caius, though.
“I do this and you let him go free. You don’t go after him or his friends, agreed?”
A deal made with the devil is not likely to be kept, but I have to try. If I know that my loss will at least help them, I can live with it. If Odette is alive, she deserves to have her brother, her husband, and his friends alive when she returns.
“Of course,” Paxton says.
Yea, I don’t believe him. But I’m sure there will be plenty more deals he makes with me when he needs me to agree to something. Caius is too useful as a bargaining chip, so Paxton won’t kill him, but he also won’t let him go. For now, keeping him alive is the best I can do.
I suck in a deep breath and nod, glancing at Caius out of the corner of my eye.
Caius winks, or at least I think he winks at me. Is he thanking me for saving his life? Something else? Did I imagine it?
I push the illusion out of my head. “I—I, Rialta Corsi, take Paxton Cook to be…” Paxton’s eyebrows raise in anticipation. “To be my husband.”
The officiant starts talking again, but Paxton leans into my ear. “Good girl.”
I swallow my disgust and glance at our surroundings—the incredible view of the lake, the forest, trees, flowers, the sun setting. I can’t imagine a more perfect place for a wedding. If I were to get married for real, I would want it to be in nature like this. But instead, this place will haunt my dreams.
“I now declare you husband and wife.”
I’m pretty sure he skipped a few steps, but they must be satisfied with what I said. Paxton yanks me flush to his body and then presses a rough kiss to my lips, smearing his saliva all over my mouth.
I hear a single gunshot.
I try to push Paxton away, hoping like hell his men didn’t already betray me by shooting Caius. But when I do, Caius is running toward us.
Caius grabs me just as I turn to look at Paxton and see blood spilling from his mouth. He was the one shot.
“What’s—?” I start to question as Caius grabs me with unbound hands, throws me over his shoulder, runs the few feet off the end of the dock, and then jumps.
We both splash hard into the water, and our bodies disconnect. My hands are still tied, so I start kicking, but I’m not sure if surfacing right away is the best idea.
I open my eyes in the murky water and see Caius grab my arm as he begins to swim, pulling me along behind him. As I guessed, he doesn’t surface right away.
We swim as far as our lungs will allow us, and then we break for the surface. Neither of us stop as our heads finally push high enough above the water to take a breath. Even though our lungs are begging for us to stop and take a long, deep breath, we continue swimming because our lives depend on it. Caius grips my arm and pulls me along behind him, while I kick as hard as I can.
“Almost there,” he says.
I don’t have a clue what he means. We are swimming toward the middle of the lake. There is no land in sight. We can’t stop swimming anytime soon unless we want to drown. But then I hear the buzz of an engine, and I see a speedboat to our left, driving toward us at full speed. The boat comes to a stop in front of us, and then Hayes reaches down to lift me up out of the water with one tug of his arm. I collapse onto Hayes’s body on the deck. Gage helps Caius out of the water, and then the boat starts speeding off, making it impossible to stand up.
“I love you on top of me, Princess, but you’re bleeding, and I can’t breathe,” Hayes says.
Gage helps me stand. “I’ll go get the first aid kit.”
“Here, let me get those ropes off you. They have to be killing your wrists,” Hayes says.
“Ropes you assholes put on,” I remind them.
Hayes winces.
Caius looks like he’s going to be sick as he watches Hayes slice through the ropes and gently pulls them off. A layer of my skin goes with the rope, but I’m still thankful to be free.
Gage walks around my back and freezes. His eyes bulge as he looks at my back.
“If you think that’s bad, you should see the other guy,” I joke.
But the guys don’t laugh. Gage hands the first aid kit to Caius, and then he stomps off.
“What’s wrong with him?” I ask.
Caius shakes his head. “Sit here.” He pats the bench in the front of the boat. I straddle the bench while Hayes sits facing me and Caius sits behind me.
Caius holds out some pain pills to me, which I swallow dry. Then he holds out the first aid kit to Hayes, who digs through it, finding what he needs before Caius sets the box on the bench between us.
“This might sting,” Hayes says.
I nod and hold out my wrists, and he dabs the wounds on my wrists with alcohol to clean them.
I hiss, not caring if I come across as a wimp. Last time I was in this position, I was brave and stone-faced, but now I’m pissed. I was about to be married off and raped because these jackasses decided to tie me up and take me to the middle of nowhere to get answers instead of just talking to me.
Hayes’s face drops with concern. “I’m sorry.”
“You should be,” I snap back.
Hayes frowns. “I know.”
He continues in silence, wrapping gauze around my wrists until my wounds are covered. He studies his work for a second, then he stands. He looks at me like he wants to say something more. The pain is clear on his face from his furrowed brows and clenched jaw. Whatever is on his mind, he doesn’t say. Instead, he walks toward the back of the boat, where I assume the rest of the guys are, leaving Caius and me alone.
I shiver despite the sun warming the water off my skin.
“Do you want a towel?”
“No.” A towel would only cling to my back where my wounds are. It wouldn’t help.
I turn to look at Caius. He’s removed his shirt, his abs glistening under the sunlight and still soaking wet.
“I—uh—I need to clean your wounds. Then I can apply a cold compress that will help with the pain,” Caius stutters. I don’t know why these guys have all suddenly lost their balls, but they are all walking on eggshells around me. None of them able to say what they really want to.
I face forward out at the lake as Caius begins. I wince every time he touches me. I whine, I complain, I wiggle, I make his job as difficult as possible.
Caius eventually finishes and occupies Hayes’s spot in front of me. He carefully takes my hands in his.
“I’m so sorry. I—”
I open my mouth, but Caius puts his fingers over my lips, silencing me.
“I owe you my life. Without your intervention, I would be dead,” his voice softens. “I owe you a life, and I’ll ensure that I repay my debt.”
“You just saved my life. I think your debt has been repaid.”
Caius shakes his head. “No, I didn’t—”
He stops speaking when he looks up. I’m not sure what he’s looking at, but I can feel a pair of eyes burning into my back.
Is it Beckett finally coming to check on me?
Slowly, I turn my head and find Lennox’s jaw on the floor, his eyes wide as he stares at my back. Lennox hasn’t been my biggest fan. I know he doesn’t think I’m anything but trouble for their group. He doesn’t trust me. His nostrils flare, and I think he’s pissed at me for this, too, like I asked to be paraded around in a wedding dress then whipped into submission.
“What are you doing?” Lennox asks.
I scrunch my eyebrows, ready to fight this jerk, when Caius jumps up. “I needed to apologize to Ri for my part in this.”
Lennox stomps toward us. “The best apology is to help her heal and reduce the pain right now. Then get revenge for what happened to her, understand?”
Caius nods, then he pats the bench. “Lie down on your stomach.”
I want to get the dress off as soon as possible, but I doubt the guys have any clothes to change into that wouldn’t cover the wound on my back. Instead, I decide to lie down on my stomach.
I hear Caius and Lennox cracking ice packs to activate them before placing them on my back.
I jump every time they place one on my back as pain initially shoots through me. But then I slump, relaxing into the bench as the cold starts numbing the pain.
“I need to get back to the helm. You know Gage can’t drive for shit, and if he lets Hayes take over, we’ll end up driving toward the nearest party boat filled with half-naked women instead of heading toward the house,” Lennox says.